


Arriving

by Page_of_Cups



Series: Asra has a baby [3]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Birth, F/M, Family Fluff, Female Apprentice (The Arcana), Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-01-05 19:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18372887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Page_of_Cups/pseuds/Page_of_Cups
Summary: The apprentice goes into labour with Asra's baby.Continuation of Expecting, as requested by Fuquspace





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fuquspace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuquspace/gifts).



The sun is barely rising over the horizon when Asra and I wake up. Such an early start is certainly far from the norm for either of us, but the baker asked us to drop by early to try out a new pumpkin bread recipe, so we are, of course, planning on being the first ones there. Asra steps around the bed and carefully helps me up. At first, I had always refused his constant offers of assistance, but now my tummy is so big that even simple tasks are too difficult for me to really say no. I slip a thin blue sundress - one of the few that still fit -  over my head and brush my hair and teeth while Asra gets ready.

“Should I wake Faust up?” I ask as he finishes putting on his sash. He pauses a minute to consider before gesturing to let her sleep.

“We shouldn't be gone too long, and it's still pretty early.” He yawns and stretches as if to emphasize his point.  “Are you ready to go, my love?”

I nod and he follows me down the stairs to the front door. Asra slips on his shoes and then motions for me to lift my foot so he can help me put on mine. It's far from the first time he's had to help me take care of myself, but it's hard to not be embarrassed anyway. Still, leaning over and touching my feet is a herculean task with my tummy in the way. Asra puts on his jacket and then holds mine out for me. When I put it on, his hands move under the swell of my belly and he holds me there. We savour the warmth of each other’s bodies for just a moment before venturing out into the winter morning.

The weather never really gets unbearably cold in Vesuvia, but between the chilly wind and my already swollen feet, I’m thankful that the walk - or waddle, in my case -  to the market is short. Selasi peeks out of his stall and waves us over as we approach. Then he turns around and pulls a large, steaming tray of bread loaves out of the oven. Asra and I sit and watch, and my feet are more than happy for the reprieve.

“Impeccable timing, my friends. This batch just finished and will only need a few moments to cool.” He smiles at us warmly and wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. Despite the chill of the outside, the heat emanating from the bakery would be stifling for any length of time. “Speaking of buns in ovens, when is your little magician due?”

Asra laughs and I feel his hand creep up my back. He leans me into his side. “Any day now, actually.”

“Perhaps today, from the looks of it!”

I groan. “Ugh no, please don’t jinx it. Today is supposed to be our day off.”

“Well, that’s better than if you had a full day planned, no?”

I smile despite myself. “Ah, I suppose you’re right.”

As we wait for the bread to cool, Selasi asks lots of questions - have we picked out a name? Is the nursery ready? Are the grandparents excited? - and Asra answers them - no, kinda, ecstatic - as he rubs a hand over my back. As sore as I’ve been the past few days, I welcome anything that even approaches a massage and sink into his touch.

“Ah, the loaves should be cool by now,” Selasi says before turning around and handing us each half a loaf. “What do you think? I’ve been looking forward to your expert opinions all week!”

“And we’ve been looking forward to tasting your new recipe just as long,” I say before taking a bite.

Selasi watches us intently as we eat. Asra makes a satisfied noise before he swallows.

“It’s excellent, as always,” he says.

Selasi beams and claps his hands together.

“Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear it!” He turns to me, and his face falls a little. “Less enthused, I take it?”

I shake my head no. “It’s delicious, really. It’s just… the little one isn’t ready for breakfast, I suppose.” It hasn’t been as bad as the morning sickness I had the first few months, but it’s been difficult to stomach much of anything the past few days. Unlike the nausea I had in the first trimester though, I’ve still been able to function, at least, and keep things down when Asra pressures me to eat something.

Selasi nods sympathetically. “Ah, yes, hormones will do that.”

Unfortunately, he’s seen enough of my food-related pregnancy woes to believe that’s all this is. Once early on, I had a terrible craving for pumpkin bread in the middle of the night and begged Asra to go with me to the market at the crack of dawn. When we got to the baker’s stall, I literally sobbed when I finally got a loaf of it. Asra quickly explained that I was pregnant and the whole situation from the previous night, and that the wailing, crying mess of a woman in his shop was totally fine, if not a little emotional over his superb baking. My brain has been a little foggy lately, but I think we went home with at least a dozen different types of bread that morning.

“Perhaps later then? Would you like to take it home with you?” Selasi asks. I nod and thank him, making an effort to be as polite as I can despite my stomach roiling. He wanders in the back to get a bag, but I suspect it’s really to give us a moment’s privacy.

Asra squeezes my hand in his.

“Are you feeling alright?” He asks. “Do you want to go home?”

I shake my head as if that will get rid of my nausea like a dog shakes off water. “No, no. I think it’s just the heat. Once we walk around I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? We can come back another day.”

“I’m sure. I want to look around a little more. We won’t have a lot of opportunities to do so after the baby comes, and there’s still stuff we need to get.”

Selasi comes back with my half of the loaf in a bag (Asra ate all of his), and we buy a few more goodies before we say goodbye and wander back into the market. Most of the stalls are just starting to open, and the market is relatively quiet, but it’s getting busy fast. Asra’s favourite textile booth is open, and he makes a beeline to a bolt of soft, stretchy purple fabric. He has to wait for me to catch up a little and quickly apologizes.

“Will the baby need scarves, do you think?” He pulls out about a yard of the fabric and examines it.

“If by ‘baby’ you mean Faust, then yes.”

He rolls up the fabric and pulls out another bolt. It’s purple again and fuzzy this time. “What about this one?”

“Hmm. It, uh, looks… soft, at least.”

He feels the fabric a bit, then scrunches up his nose before putting it away and poring over the rest of the inventory. Suddenly, his eyes go big and he yanks out a navy bolt of velvet fabric that is spotted with constellations.

“Perfect,” Asra says as he smooths his hand over the little yellow stars.

“Don’t you think it might be a bit expensive?”

Asra shrugs, goes back to the first bolt he picked, and takes them both to the cutting counter. “I”ll make sure not to waste it then.”

He pays with two smooth rocks and an opal - presumably one of the leftover ones we found while caving before we knew I was carrying this little one - and neatly folds the pieces into his satchel, completely oblivious to the dumbstruck look on the clerk’s face.

“How are you feeling?” He asks when we mosey on back into the increasingly busy street.

I make a face and gesture so-so. He asks if I want to go home again, and I decline. He’s feeling apprehensive about being out for some reason, and I wish I could do something to help him relax.

“What else was it that we needed before the baby gets here?”

I know there was something on my mind when we were at the bakery, but now I’m just drawing a blank. Between Nadia and his parents fussing over everything, there isn’t much that we had to get to begin with. About a month ago, Salim and Aisha surprised us with a bassinet they had charmed to rock on its own. Nadia, for all her talk of not really getting along well with children, has been acting as if our baby were her own niece or nephew and offering whatever assistance she can - our midwife is actually under her employ - and is already spoiling the baby.

“It’ll come to me eventually, I think, if it’s important,” I say.  

“Let’s see if the spice stall is open. Maybe it will come to you while we’re perusing.”

I nod, and we delve into the growing throng. The street has practically filled in the short time we were at the textile booth, and Asra carefully guides me through as I slowly waddle along behind him, careful not to bump into anyone with my tummy. He leads us to an empty spot off to the side and we take a short break. Asra puts his hand on my cheek and kisses me gently. His lips are soft and I can still taste Selasi’s bread on him.

“What are you planning on making with all that fabric anyway?” I ask.

Asra smiles and brings my fingers to his lips. “Oh, you’ll see.”

I groan and roll my eyes.   

“Are you feeling up to going to the spice stall still?” He asks for what feels like the tenth time since we left this morning.

Part of me is tempted to go home and let those lips kiss me all over, but I’ve missed going to the market with him lately, and surprisingly, I finally have enough energy for it despite not feeling the best.

“I’m alright. Let’s keep going.”

He takes me by the hand and starts to lead me through the crowd again. I see a couple of the shop’s regulars milling through the street but no one that I’d feel inclined to stop and chat with. I quietly thank the powers that be that the Devoraks aren’t with us this morning or we’d surely be on our tenth encounter of the morning already.

Asra and I are about 30 yards from the spice stall when I feel a tight cramp pulling on my back and tummy. I stop dead in my tracks.

“A-Asra?”

Asra accidentally tugs my arm before looking back and closing the distance between us as the other townsfolk rush past.

His hand firmly grips the back of my shoulder, and his worried eyes rove my face. “What is it, darling? What’s wrong?”

I put my hand over my stomach.

“I... the baby…”

His jaw drops slightly, and his expression is an indescribable mix of dread and excitement.

“ _Now_? Are you sure?”

I nod and start to look around frantically. This is happening here, in the middle of the market, right when it’s getting busy. Of course.

  


Asra’s hand finds its way to my cheek, and he guides my face to look at his. He’s hiding his nerves as best as he can, and to someone who hadn’t spent as much time around him, it’d be completely unnoticeable.

“Everything’s going to be okay, love. Are you in pain? Can you walk?”

I nod again. Nothing is terribly painful right now - more of a heavy pressure than anything- but the shock of it all is making it difficult to find the words.

“I’m fine. Yes, I can walk.”

Asra smiles, and his arm winds behind my back anyway.

“Let’s get you home, and then I’ll go find the midwife. Tell me if you need to stop or if you’re hurting, alright?”

I nod again, and we turn toward the shop. The next contraction doesn’t come for a while and is just as mild and short as the first. I’m able to walk through it and have to tell Asra for him to know it’s happening. Between the meandering crowd and the cautious way we’re walking, I’m half convinced that I’ll deliver in the middle of the road.

After a third contraction, we manage to get close to the edge of the market where it’s less densely packed, but before we’re home free, I feel a wet trickle running down my thigh. I pause again.

“ _Fuck_ ,” I mutter under my breath.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Asra asks, the panic in his voice apparent. I don’t have a chance to answer before it’s obvious. Despite my vain attempts to tense up and stop it, my water breaks as a small trickle at first, then a sudden gush of fluid soaking the bottom half of my dress. Asra looks… concerned, until he takes a deep breath and snaps, erasing any evidence of what just happened.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“I’m fine. Embarrassed, but fine.”

He pauses, then I feel the familiar dribble of a Don’t Mind Me spell running down my head. It doesn’t undo what has already happened, but I feel better nonetheless.

The rest of the walk home is as uneventful as it could be, but it takes forever and I’m grateful to be home. Faust is curled up in a dish of water Asra left on the counter for her. Her whole body is somehow coiled in the little bowl, and there’s a small puddle on the glass.

 _“Home!”_ She says when we walk through the door. Asra makes a quiet “mm-hmm” in response and helps me out of my jacket and shoes. She slithers towards us and moves down the counter.

“ _Worried!”_

“I’m sorry, Faust. We weren’t supposed to be out as long as we were, and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“ _No! Egg okay??_ ”

I wonder if she noticed me grimace as another contraction hit. I pause, and it’s over in less than a minute.

“I think so,” I tell her as she slithers up Asra and works her way over to my arm.

Asra helps me up the stairs and guides me to our bed. I don’t feel much like laying down, but it’s nice to be off of my feet finally.

“Is there anything you’d like me to bring up?”

I shake my head no, and he goes downstairs. A few minutes later he comes back up with a pile of books and a mug of red raspberry leaf tea. He sets them down on a table next to the bed.

“Here,” Asra says and places his hands over my belly button. There’s an almost tingly feeling for a second, and then the ache in my back eases tremendously. “I have to get the midwife, but I’ll be right back, and Faust will keep you company, okay?”

“Be quick please.”

“ _Hurry, hurry!"_

He kisses my forehead and runs his hand over my cheek. “Of course, love. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Asra lingers a moment longer, then pulls away, waves, and goes downstairs. As soon as he’s out of sight, I hear him sprint down the rest of the stairs and slam the front door.

“ _Egg soon!”_ Faust says with a gentle squeeze.

“Mmhmm, egg soon,” I say and scritch underneath her chin.   

I take the tea from off of the pile of books and drink deeply.

All I can do now is wait.

 


	2. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tried to avoid getting gory, but birth isn't exactly neat and tidy, so... heads up.

Asra returns a little less than an hour later with an older, portly woman panting behind him. Unlike Julian, Asra has always been one to doddle, but he can walk quickly when he wants to. I had gotten bored of waiting, and contractions have been mild and far apart, so Faust and I moseyed downstairs to get ahead on inventory. Asra gives me a worried look when he spots me rummaging through the ingredient cupboards.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” He asks. 

I shrug. “I mean, I will if I have to, but it’s not that bad yet. More of an inconvenient pressure, really.”  

Asra turns to the sweating midwife still catching her breath in the doorway. “How far apart are the contractions?”

“Mmm. About 10 minutes, maybe? They don’t last more than a minute though.”

“It ought to be fine if that’s the case. We’ll keep an eye on how it progresses. In the meantime, I’ll prepare some tea.”

Asra thanks her, and the midwife and I finally exchange pleasantries before she leaves to make tea upstairs. Meanwhile, I try to rack my brain for her name. We met her once or twice before, but it’s been months since we’ve seen her. Asra and I have been off galavanting perhaps too much so close to the due date, and we admittedly forwent some of our recommended visits. Of course, we didn’t shirk off medical care entirely, and I had received several physicals - though not by anyone who specialized in midwifery. 

"It's red raspberry," she says when she returns with my tea a few minutes later. "It should help with the contractions."

I thank her, and Asra pulls out several scrolls of medical notes we received from the various doctors we visited on our travels. The midwife unfurls the papers and scoffs.

"Doctors are always in such a hurry, aren't they? No time to take nice, neat notes. Always rushing about."

She holds the paper close to her eyes and then at arm's length, carefully squinting at the documents. The shop is silent aside from her quiet "hmms" as we wait for her to finish reading. 

"Well, judging by this, it certainly  _ looks _ like you received competent medical care, but I wonder… Do you mind if we go upstairs so I can look you over?"

Asra and I exchange worried glances before I agree, and we anxiously head to our bedroom. The midwife has me undress and change into the shapeless, paisley gown Asra and Nadia made especially for this occasion, then asks me to lay down and hike the skirt up to my ribcage. I try to hide my embarrassment as she checks my dilation. When she’s finished, she has me put my knees down and presses her hands against my stomach. She's focusing intently at the little bumps inside me as she checks the baby's position. Something catches her attention and she smirks, clearly having found what she was looking for. Without a word, she rifles through her bag and pulls out a long, flared tube. 

She presses the bell end of the tube up against one of the lumps, adjusts it a bit, nods, and feels around again before placing the tube on a new part of my stomach. The midwife smiles, expressing just how pleased she is with both herself and the results. 

"Wonderful! Everything looks to be in order. Have you thought of any names?" She asks.

Asra smiles. “We’re planning on meeting her first before we decide."

"Oh! What a good idea. How are you planning on telling them apart?”

Asra and I exchange confused glances. He recovers first.

"…  _ Them _ ?"

"The twins? Did no one tell you?" 

Asra is the palest I've ever seen him. My feelings are such a bungled mess I can only guess at them vicariously through Asra’s reaction. He takes a deep, steadying breath and closes his eyes slowly, white eyelashes reaching toward his cheekbones. 

"The possibility, uh… may have mentioned once," I offer, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "But there was a bit of a language barrier."

We had made our way out east - much farther than we had intended to go - and at times, all we were able to understand from the medical visit was that things were progressing normally. I'm bubbling with energy, though I still can't place it. Two babies, all this time.

Asra runs his hand through my hair.

"It's okay, love. Please relax; everything will be just fine. Here," Asra says taking my hands in his, "Breathe with me. In… and out. Everything will be just fine, my heart."

Seeing how quickly he was able to compose himself helps calm me somewhat. Maybe this won’t be so bad.

“Ah, I see. It’s easy enough to miss for an inexperienced midwife, especially if you were seeing a variety of physicians instead of a dedicated team. Thankfully, both seem to be head-down, though twins do make delivery a bit more complicated, but my assistant and our apprentice should be on their way to help shortly.”  

"And what should we do in the meantime?" Asra asks.

"There's not much  _ to _ do at this point. Try to relax. Keep your mind off of it. You can get up and walk around if you feel up to it, but nothing too strenuous."

I nod and ask for help going back downstairs to continue inventorying the shop. Despite Asra's assurances that he would take care of it, something about going through and sorting our wares was calming before, and with the recent news, I'm desperate for anything to settle my nerves. 

Once we get downstairs, Asra and I sit down on the floor and get to work making records of everything we have in stock and what needs to be replenished. Faust curls up between us and takes a nap. Hours pass and contractions come and go, getting steadily more intense and the day wears on. The midwife busies herself with making sure the room is adequately comfortable and that Asra and I stay fed and hydrated. At some point, the midwife's assistant, Enzo, and apprentice, Karmello arrive, and I finally catch the midwife's name - Michelle. Michelle has her apprentice look me over when she arrives.

"Twins!" Karmello says during the examination. "And healthy, too!"

Asra and I exchange a sheepish look. We had resolutely avoided discussing the situation while we were working, but now the elephant in the room was refusing to be ignored. 

Another half-hour passes, and the contractions start to hit every few minutes. The spell Asra used when he left to get the midwife has finally fully worn off, and I flinch from the wave of pain. Asra notices immediately and starts massaging tiny circles into my back. His voice is soft and low as he offers praise and encouragement through the spasms of pain. Michelle and her apprentice offer to help me move into a more comfortable position, and I ask to go back to bed. 

When the contraction passes, Asra helps me off the floor and guides me up the stairs and into bed with my attendants following close behind. Everyone helps me settle back into bed, and Enzo brings in a pile of towels. Half the day has passed, but the midwife says I am only dilated half of the way. I groan in both pain and frustration, and Karmello tries to assure me that twins take longer.

Next to me, Asra is weaving gossamer threads of magic into a shining web. It’s a spell Aisha taught him for pain relief when we told her we were expecting, and he’s been practising ever since. I’m idly playing with his tarot cards when I feel Faust slither next to my head. The contractions are getting more painful and closer together, and I grip the sheets tightly.

“Hurt?” Faust asks.

I nod.

“Sorry,” she says. 

I take a deep breath and rub the top of her head.

“It’s okay,” I say. “It’s bearable.”

Asra leans over and kisses my head.

“I’m almost done, sweetheart. I’m sorry it’s taking this long.”

Faust slides over to Asra and hides in the folds of his sash while he works. When he finishes the spell sometime later, he tosses the web over me and tucks me in. Almost immediately, the pain assuages to little more than a heavy pressure not unlike what I felt when the contractions began. 

More time passes, and the sun sets. My attendants keep updating us on my progress - 6cm, then a few hours later 7 and 8cm. By the time I’m at 9cm, it’s well into the night. Asra looks completely exhausted from the effort of maintaining the spell, but whenever his eyes flutter shut from the fatigue, he’s quickly woken up by me crying out in pain. 

“When you feel the urge to push, make sure to let us know,” Michelle says when I’m finally fully dilated. Though still relatively painless, I can feel how powerful the contractions have become, and as if on cue, my body starts to push without my telling it to do so.

I start to panic and slap down on the mattress, barely to babble what’s happening to the midwives. 

Asra takes my hand in his and wipes the sweat from my forehead. 

“Breathe, darling. Just breathe. You’re doing wonderfully,” he coos.

 The medical team starts moving quickly and encourages me to push as if I have any choice in the matter. They try to explain what is happening, but my head is swimming and I can’t track any of it. Asra reminds me to put my chin to my chest, to push with my core. I squeeze his hand and scream into the back of my other arm in lieu of a response. The spell he used is powerful, but it can’t eliminate everything, though my reaction is more due to fear than anything physiological. Asra’s voice is calming as always, and I’m beyond grateful that he’s here with me. 

 An eternity passes until there’s a painful, burning feeling that Asra’s spell isn’t neutralizing at all. The midwife announces that the first baby is crowning and instructs me to stop pushing. Asra sits up, eyes darting between my face and my thighs. There’s a strange slick feeling inside of me, and the first twin is delivered, screaming and pink and covered in goo. Asra gasps as the midwife lifts her from me. Enzo cleans the baby off with a damp towel, clamps the cord, and invites Asra to cut it. He looks at me as if to ask for permission to leave my side. I gesture for him to go, and he leaps up to do the honours. 

The second twin, not willing to let her sister have all of my attention, forces me to push again. Karmello examines the first baby and Asra is transfixed on what’s happening between my legs as he stands near my feet. It's easier this time, but about 10 minutes pass until I’m told to stop pushing again. Asra watches with his wide-eyes full of both awe and exhaustion as the second baby is born. After the second cord is cut, the apprentice midwife hands Asra the first baby. Beaming, he kisses our daughter on the top of her head and whispers in her ear before bringing her to me. 

She’s smaller than I expected and looks like a pink, wrinkly version of Asra with a button nose and a tuft of white hair. Across the room, her sister starts crying, cueing the one huddled against Asra’s chest to follow suit. My breasts start to leak in response, and I want nothing more than to hold and nurse my babies, but there’s still the afterbirth to deal with. The web of magic that helped me through delivery has faded to only a residual hum of relief, so I distract myself from the pain by watching Asra fawn over the first twin, cooing and cuddling her up to his face. It’s all so picturesque and natural - like he was always meant to be a parent.  

Delivering the placenta goes much quicker than I would have anticipated, and at some point during the process, Asra is handed the second baby. I watch as Asra kisses and whispers to her too. He looks so elated, so proud, so  _ drained _ . His eyes well up, threatening to spill over in joy or relief or something else entirely. Although they’re not a replacement, after losing the first one, seeing him hold two babies feels completely surreal. 

When the whole thing is over, the assistant discreetly disposes of the gory mess and bloody sheets. One of the babies fusses when Asra finally hands them to me, so I open up the front of my gown to allow her to nurse. She latches on surprisingly quickly and blinks up at me. I finally see her opened eyes and notice they are the exact shade of piercing violet as Asra’s.

Asra nuzzles his face against my shoulder and brushes my hair with his fingers. Under the guidance of the apprentice midwife, he helps hold the second baby to my chest. She’s an exact copy of her sister - another spitting image of Asra. It takes her longer to latch, but with some finagling, I'm able to nurse both of them. They’re so soft, so wonderful, that it almost feels like I’m dreaming.

“They’re beautiful,” Asra says curling up as close as he can.

“Of course they are. They look just like you.”

Asra makes a low sound in his chest that’s almost like a purr. I savour the warmth of his body next to me and the two little ones on my chest, and the fatigue finally starts to irrevocably set in. I want to ask if he has any ideas for names, but I’m too tired to even talk. 

Faust finally re-emerges from Asra’s shirt after hiding there all day.

“Two!” She says, sounding absolutely delighted. 

Asra nods and lifts her toward the babies. She flicks her tongue out and pushes her nose into one of the twin’s patch of white hair. 

“Small!” She says. “No squeeze!”

Asra lets out a tired laugh. “Good girl, Faust. Wait until Ilya gets here tomorrow.”

Someone - I’m too tired to know or care who - is trying to get me to drink, but I don’t have the energy to even sit up. Asra is here, Faust is here, our babies are here, and I’m here. Everyone is safe and sound, and all I want to do is sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did this take me forever? Yes.  
> BUT! Did I actually finish it? Also yes. ╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ＂

**Author's Note:**

> This... ended up being a lot longer than I intended. Hope you don't mind! (´,,•ω•,,)♡


End file.
